Description, Anatomy & Characteristics

The Red Porgy has an elongated, high-backed and laterally compressed body. Its colouration is silver to blue, whereby their scaling can be easily recognized by the different brightness of the colouration.

Both its massive head with thick lips and the completely black eyes of the Common Sea Bream are particularly striking.

Pagrus pagrus becomes up to 75cm long and weighs up to 17kg.

Habitat & Distribution

The Common Sea Bream lives over sandy, muddy and rocky soils in depths down to 200m. It is more likely to be found in coastal areas.

When scuba diving in the Canary Islands you can’t observe them often, but regularly.

The general distribution area of Pagrus pagrus extends over the coastal areas of the North Atlantic. You can see them in the eastern Atlantic from the British Isles, along the European coast, across the Azores, Madeira to North Africa. In the western Atlantic it is spread along the coast of the USA, across the Gulf of Mexico to Brazil. The Red Porgy can also be found in the Mediterranean Sea.

Biology, Reproduction & Feeding

Pagrus pagrus likes to live sociably. They feed on small fish and invertebrates, preferring small crustaceans.

The Common Sea Bream is a so-called proterogynous hermaphrodite. That means they’re female at first. In the course of their lives, their sex changes and they become male animals. With approximately 3 years, they become sexually mature. Reproduction takes place at 15 to 19° water temperature. In the Canary Islands in spring.